Is Anxiety Preventing You From Meaningfully Connecting To Yourself And Others? 

Are daily fears and worries keeping you from feeling at ease? Do you dread situations that force you out of your comfort zone? Is the idea of being around others enough to make you avoid your work, relationships, or responsibilities? 

You may feel like your worries have taken complete control of your life. Unable to manage your thoughts, fear and anxiety may play on loop in your mind—preventing you from being able to relax or be present in the moment. These feelings likely impact your ability to feel productive or complete seemingly mundane tasks, such as driving or going to the store. 

It’s possible that physical symptoms of anxiety have crept into your everyday life. Maybe your muscles are so tense that it feels unnatural to relax them. Or perhaps you experience other symptoms of panic, including an increased heart rate, sweaty palms, or an impending sense of doom. Living with such heightened anxiety, you probably find it difficult to get a good night’s rest.  

Anxiety Impacts Us On Both An Individual And A Relational Level

Anxiety has a way of sneaking its way into every aspect of life. What may have started as an individual concern is likely to escalate into full-blown social anxiety, preventing you from making strong and supportive connections with others. 

As a result, you may find that your inner circle is relatively small or nonexistent. Being around others has just become too difficult, and you’d rather stay at home than have to face fear of rejection or the constant second-guessing that comes with social anxiety. 

If you could engage others or accomplish everyday tasks with confidence, you would feel so much more capable. And if you could conquer distress without battling symptoms of panic, you would probably feel as though you’d died and gone to heaven. 

I’m here to tell you that it’s possible to live without constant worry. In therapeutic treatment for anxiety, you can learn how to tune into what your anxiety is telling you as you learn to approach your life with more self-compassion and less fear. 

Anxiety Is The Most Common Mental Health Condition In America

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in the United States. It affects at least 40 million adults—or 18 percent of the population—every year, making it an extremely widespread phenomenon. 

Only about a third of individuals suffering from chronic stress and worry seek help even though therapy is highly effective for treating anxiety. And unfortunately, individuals who do not seek treatment for an anxiety disorder are exponentially more likely to seek medical attention or hospitalization for psychiatric issues. 

Anxiety Has Many Causes

Several factors put individuals at risk for developing anxiety, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and adverse life events. These life events may range from childhood trauma to grief and loss to socio-political/global factors.

For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed significantly to a rise in social anxiety. Increased social distancing and fears surrounding community health have led to feelings of isolation, worry, and distrust. And as life returns to “normal,” people who struggled with social anxiety before may find it especially hard to adjust to the post-COVID mindset as people gather together again. 

No matter their cause, chronic fear and worry can become such automatic responses that it’s difficult to treat anxiety without help. But with a therapist, you can learn to understand, navigate, and cope with your anxiety.

Healing And Self-Compassion Are Possible With Anxiety Treatment

Treatment for anxiety begins with comprehending that we are all made up of many parts that contain valuable information about who we are and what we want out of life. Just as there are parts of us that are joyful, creative, and funny, there are also parts of us that struggle with fear. In understanding which part of ourselves we tune into the most, we can begin to do the work of overcoming anxiety. 

If you’re interested in anxiety treatment, I invite you to schedule a free consultation call that will allow us to see if we’re a good therapeutic fit. Once it’s decided that we will work together, you’ll be asked to perform a standard intake that will give me a sense of what you need from therapy so that we can dive right into anxiety treatment. In our first session, I will learn more about your story and collaborate with you on a plan of action to help you feel better and less anxious. 

From there, we will begin the work of identifying the root cause of your anxiety. My approach works best for those who are motivated to find a solution and curious about getting to the core of the issue instead of simply masking symptoms of anxiety. In the process of uncovering your anxiety’s origins, I will also provide you with skills for coping so that you can begin to heal more and suffer less. 

My Approach To Counseling For Anxiety

Using the parts work inherent in Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, you can learn to listen to your inner voices—ultimately finding the answers to your questions within you. By introducing your observant self to the part that carries anxiety, you can better understand what that part of you wants and needs. And in realigning these parts back together, you will have the information you need to release the burden of anxiety, stress, and phobias. 

In addition to IFS, I may incorporate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety to help you understand how your thoughts influence your emotions and behaviors. 

During my career as a therapist, I have witnessed my clients move away from the frightening constraints of chronic worry and distress, opening their lives up to a space of calm, possibility, and satisfaction. Therapy gives you a chance to become curious and offer compassion to the many parts that make you uniquely you—even the parts that complicate your life with fear and anxiety. 

Just the fact that you’re here indicates that you believe transformation is possible. And in treatment for anxiety, you can create meaningful, lasting change toward a more pleasant and fulfilled life. 

Perhaps You’re Considering Getting Help For Your Anxiety, But You’re Still Not Sure If Counseling Is Right For You…

I’m worried about what others will think if I seek treatment for anxiety. 

In therapy, it’s possible to listen to, understand, and mitigate the part of yourself that perpetuates social anxiety and self-doubt. Working together with me, you can begin to embrace the fact that the only response you can control is your own. 

Our sessions will be safe, secure, and governed by patient protection laws. You don’t need to worry about exposing your identity or jeopardizing your confidentiality—you just need to be willing to address your anxiety with curiosity so that it can stop having so much control over your experiences. 

My anxiety makes it impossible to even leave my house—how do you expect me to get to therapy?

Creating a safe space where you can go to address your concerns weekly allows you to take small steps toward being able to leave your house more readily. So, in a way, therapy serves as a safe exposure to your fears and anxieties. Once you’re in treatment, we will work together to ensure that you feel safe, supported, and capable of overcoming anxiety in accepting it as a part of yourself that can be managed. 

In addition, please note that therapy is available via telehealth. Meeting over a HIPAA-compliant platform, we can begin to explore the part of yourself that is highly fearful of leaving your home.

I don’t have agoraphobia, but I want to talk to others without having social anxiety—can therapy help with that?

By approaching the anxious part of yourself with curiosity, you can gain clarity on the root of your worry and how to manage it. Even if you don’t think your anxiety is excessive or that you have a phobia, treatment can be beneficial for tuning into the parts of yourself that fear social situations. Understanding where these fears originated in counseling will help you with overcoming social anxiety. 

You Can Create Rich Experiences That Aren’t Driven By Fear

If you’re ready to let go of chronic worry, treatment at Surf Ridge Counseling can help you meaningfully respond to fear and self-doubt in the process of overcoming your anxiety. 

To schedule a free, 15-minute consultation to find out more about how I can help, please email me or call (828) 237-2887.

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